Bottle capping machine



9 1931- F. K. MUELLER 1,819,519

BOTTLE CAPPI NG MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 18, 1931. F. K. MUELLER 1,819,519

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Q Filed Dec. 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Shoat 2 iea/rzr ezzfr Patented Aug.l8,1931 gglasie nears terns para p ge i FRED I i. IVII'IELLER, OF CHICAGQ'ILLINOIS BOTTLE CAPI-ING MACi-HNE Application filed December 1'7, 1928. Serial No. 326,566.

This invention has to do with an improved Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal vertical section construction of bottle capping machine inthrough the sealing head and the lower'portended especially for the application of what tion of the hopper, as well as the feeding slide, are known as crown seals or corks to bottles. the partsbeing shown in their initial p'osiv 5 The machine herein disclosed is especially intion, whe'rethe tongue is engaged with the 55 tended for hand operation, although 'cerflange of a crown, but'has not advanced the tain features of the machine may also be used same into the sealing head; in connection with devices intended to be Fig. 1 shows a view similar to that of Fig. driven by power of suitable kind. 3, with the exception that the slide has been One of the objects of the invention is to promoved over to carry the crown into the seal- 60 vide an improved feeding device for delivering head; ing the caps to the sealing head one ata time Fig. 5 shows a bottom view of the sealing and in correct position. head and'the feeding slide, being taken sub- Another featureof the invention relates to sta-ntially on the line 55 of Fig. 1, looking the provision of a construction in which the in the direction of the arrows; v 65 cap feeding mechanism is so connected to the i Fig. 6 shows a vertical cross section on sealing head that it travels up and down the line 66 of Fig. 8, looking in the ditherewith, and thus always maintains the rection of'the arrows, oneof the crowns becorrect position for delivering the caps into ing shown'by dotted lines in place on the the sealing head. slide;

Another object of the invention is to pro- Fig. 7 shows a horizontal section on the line vide a construction such that the hopper or 77 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the feeding device may be readily disconnected arrows; j s from the vertically movable sealing head and Fig. 8 shows a perspective View of the attached parts so as to enable the entire mafeeding slide; and

chine to be brought into relatively small space Fig. 9 shows a fragmentary vertical section and conveniently packed for shipment. on the line 99 of Fig. 1, looking in the direc- Another feature of the invention relates to tion of the arrows. 1 the provision of an improved operating han- The device includes a base plate 10, the cen- 30 dle construction such that the forces will be tral portion of which is preferably embossed communicated to the moving parts in the or raised, as shown at 11, in order to estabmost advantageous manner. lish a small platform upon which the bottle Another object of the invention is to prois placed. I vide a very simple form of construction and The side and rear portions of the base plate 35 one which can be very cheaply manufactured, 10 are upturned to establish lugs 13, 14 and s5 and will be of rugged and permanent con- 15. There is a pair of offset bars 16 and 17, struction. i the upper ends of which are brought close Other objects and uses of the invention will together, and the lower ends of which are appear from a detailed description of the riveted or otherwise secured to the lugs 13 to same, which consists in the features ofconand 14:. There is another bar 18 placed bestruction and combinations of parts hereintween the upper portions of the bars 16 and after described and claimed. 17. The lowerportion of the bar 18 is twisted In the drawings, through ninety degreesand is then offset Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of a mabackwardly, as shown at 19, so thatits lower 15 chine embodying the features of the present end can ,be, riveted or otherwise connected invention, the sealing head and hopper being to the lug 15. l shownin the raised position; The upper portion of the bar 18 has its Fig. 2 shows aside elevation correspondfront edge toothed, as shown'at 20, to estabing to Fig. 1, a portionof the machine being lish a vertical rack. V

50 cut away in vertical section; The upper portions of the bars 16, 17' 1.9

and 18 are rigidly connected together by a series of: through rivets 21, so that a very rigid structure is established.

There is a slide 22 mounted upon and vertically slidable on the upper straight structure just described. This slide is so formed as to embrace the upper ends of the bars 16, 17 and 18, and the slide is provided with forwardly extending lugs 23 and 24. A stud 25 extends through the lugs 23 and 24, and at its outer end it carries an enlarged head 26, which is socketed, as shown in Fig. 2, to establish an hexagonal socket 27. A cross pin or cotter pin 28 may be passed through the other end of the stud 25, and, if desired, a washer-or enlarged bearing 29 may be set on the stud 25 between the lug 23 and said cotterpin;

Mounted upon the stud 25 and secured thereto is a pinion 30 which meshes with the rack teeth 20. By rotating the stud 25 and the pinion, the same will be compelled to travel up and down on the .rack bar so as to raise or lower the slide 22.

An operating handle 31 has its end portion brought into hexagonal form and turned over so as to engage the socket 27, as shown at 32 in Fig. 1. When so engaged, a cross pin 33 may be set through companion holes in the head 26 and the end of the crank.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the crank is bent backwardly on a'double bend so that its shank portion 34 lies in the same plane as the rack bar 18 andpinion 30. Consequently,

- the downward pull on the crank necessary to forcethe sealing head home will be exerted in such a manner that there will be no tendency to cause the machine to tilt over sidewise in either direction.

The lugs 23 and 24 at their lower endscarry a sealing head 35. This sealing head is cup Shaped and is concaved downwardly. Preferably, there is a block of rubber or other resilient material 36 placed within the cup so as to force the crown home under resilient pressure. The cup 35 is riveted or otherwise secured to the lugs 23 and 24, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. r

A crown holder clip 37 is provided for holding the crown in place when it hasbeen moved into position from the hopper. This holder 37 is in the form of a U-shaped clip, as best shown in Fig. 5, the central portion of said clip being rigidly secured to the cup 35 by means of a-finger 38. Since the crown holder 37 is U-shaped in form and is made of spring metal, it can open and close slightly as the crowns are moved into it sidewise and as said crowns are afterwards delivered downwardly therefrom. Preferably, the lower edge of the crown holder 37 is under formed or cut, as shown at 39 inFig. 3, so that the flange portion of the crown may enter into said undercut portion and be firmly retained therein under spring pressure. Nevertheless, this retention is not sutlicient to prevent a ready disengagement of the crown downwardly when it is sealed to the neck of the bottle.

The crown holder is tubular in form, as shown at 40. This tube is of proper diameter to accommodate a stack of crowns standing one on top of the other. The hopper 40 is provided with a. U-shaped bracket 41 which projects towards the slide 22. Said bracket 41 is connected to the lug 23 of the slide 22- .are sufiiciently large to accommodate the heads of the studs, but the upper portions of said openings are of reduced size, so that after the bracket has been slipped into place over the heads of the studs, it can then be moved downwardly and locked into position. In this way the hopper is 'normally held firmly in place on the studs, but may be read ily disengaged when desired.

The lower portion 48 of the hopper is curved or turnedinwardly toward the cup 35 at an .angle of substantially fort-y five degrees. as clearly indicated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. This deflection is so accomplished that the downwardly moving crowns may be readilytransferredtherethrough towards the delivery end of the hopper and without jamming.

Extending across the lower end of the hopper is a bottom plate 49. The delivery side of the lower portion of the hopper is cut away, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, to establish a lip 50, leaving a substantially semicircular delivery slot 51 through which the crowns are transferred sidewise towards the head 35. There .is a. tine 52 formed in the central portion of the lip and facing backwardly, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so as to assist in preventing delivery of any crowns except the bottom one resting directly upon the slide presently to be described.

In the lower corners of the lower end 48 of the hopper and above the bottom plate 49 thereof, are located the groove blocks 53 and 54. There is a slide plate 55 which extends through a slot 56 at the rear port-ion of the lower end 48 of the hopper, and also through an opening in the other side of the hopper immediately beneath the position of the opening 51. This slide has its central portion embossed or raised upwardly, as best shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 6,"so as to establish a better seat for supporting the stack of crowns, one

of which is shown by the dotted lines 157 in Figs. 3 and 6. The edge portions of this slide work in the groove blocks 53 and 54:, said edge portions comprising tongues therefor.

The rear end of the slide 55 is upturned to establish a finger piece 58. There is a downwardly dependingpin or stud 59secured to the other end of the slide. A lip 60 extends downwardly from the bottom plate 49, and a spring 61 is extended between-the lip 60 and the stud 59 so as to tendto draw the slide-back into the initial position of Fig. 3. When the slide is forced outwardly into the postion of Fig. l by pressure upon the lug 58, a crown is delivered into the sealing head, and thereafter, when the lug 58 is released, the slide will return under the force of the spring 61 to the position shown in Fig. 3.

There is a tine 62 extending upwardly from the central front end of the slide into posi-.

tion to engage the inner edge of the flange of the lowermost crown of the stack in the hopper. The front end of this tine is abrupt so that it will firmly engage the head of the crown for the feeding operation, but the rear face-of the tine is beveled so that the tine can easily slide under the edge of the next crown as the slide returns to its initial position.

It will be understood that the parts are so lined up that when the slide is forced out into the position of Fig. 4n, the crown is delivered into the U-shaped clip, 37, and will be retained therein when the slide is returned. In this connection, it will be noted that on the back stroke of the slide the tine 62 will pass beneath the lower edge of the opposite side of the crown which has just been fed; but this operation is permissible because the crown is loosely held in the clip 37, and consequently can change position sufliciently to allow the back movement of the slide.

After the new crown has thus been moved into the sealing head and the slide has returned, the operating handle 84 may be drawn toward the operator and downwardly, so as to force the crown on to the neck of the bottle to seal the same. The hopper will travel up and down with the sealing head, and is kept in proper registry with the same at all times.

lVhile I have herein shown and described only a single embodiment of the features of my present invention, still I do not intend to limit myself thereto except as I may do so in the claims.

I claim:

1. A bottle capping machine comprising in combination a stand having at its upper end a vertical rack bar, a slide working vertically on said upper end rack bar portion, a pair of forwardly projecting lugs on said slide, a stub shaft extending through and journaled in said lugs, a pinion on said stub shaft between the lugs meshing with the rack bar, an operating handle 'connectedto. the stub, shaft and reaching out at. right angles from the stub shaft in'the form of a crank chamber of proper size to receive the crown caps, the lower portion thereof being inturned towards the sealing cup, a bottom plate on the bottom end of saidinturned portion,.a pair of grooved bars at the sides of saidbottom plate, a slide plate having its edge portions workingin the grooves of said bars, the lower portion of the hopper adjacent to the sealing cup being cut away to establish a slot for the delivery of the crown caps, an upwardly projecting. tine on the slide in position, to engagethe inner edge of a crown cap flange, and spring means for re-, storing the slide to its initial position, substantially as described.

2. A bottle capping machine comprising in combination a stand having at its upper end a vertical rack bar, a slide working V6137 ticallyon said upper end rack bar portion, a pair offorwardly'projecting lugs on said slide, a stubshaft extending through and journaled in said lugs, a pinion on said stub shaft between the lugs meshing with the rack bar, an operating handle. connected to the stub shaft and reaching out at right angles from the stub shaft in the form of acranl -a downwardly facing cup secured to the lower portions of said lugs, a U shaped clip having its central portion secured'to said cup at one side and with its arms reaching towards the other side of the device, said clip having its lower portion recessed to receive the edge portion of a crown cap, together witha hopper and feed device comprising a vertical tubular chamber of proper size to receive the crown caps, the lower portion thereof being inturned towards the sealing-cup, a bottom plate on the bottom end of said inturned portion, a pair of grooved bars at the sides of said bottomplate, a slide plate having its edge portions working in the grooves of said bars, the lower portion of the hopper adjacent to the sealing cup being cut away to establish a slot for the delivery ofthe crown caps, an upwardly projecting tine on the slide in position to engage theinner edge of a crown cap flange, and spring means for restoring the slide to its initial position, substantially as described.

3.A bottle capping machine comprising in combination a stand having at its upper end a vertical rack bar, a slide working vertically on said upper end rack bar portlon, a

pair 0f forwardly projecting lugs on said slide, Y a suitable shaft extending through and journaledin said lugs, a pinion on said stub shaft meshing with the rack bar, means for rocking the-stub shaft, a downwardly facing cup secured to "the lower portions of said :lugs, a U shaped clip having its central portion secured to said cup at one side and with its armsireaching towards the other side of the device,'toge'ther with'a hopper and feed device comprising a vertical tubular chamber of proper size to rec'eive'th'e crown caps, the lower portion thereof being inturned towards the sealing cup, 'abottom plate on the bottom end of said inturned portion, a slide :plate sli'da'bly mounted in the lowerportion of said inturned portion of the hopper, the lower portion of'the hopper adjacent to the sealing cup being cutaway to establish a slot for the delivery of'the crown caps, an upwardly projecting tine on the slide in position to engage the inner edge of a crown cap flange, and spring means for restoringthe slide to its initial position, substantially/as described.

4. A bottle capping machine comprising in combination a stand having at its upper end a vertical guide member, a slide working vertically on said guide member, means for moving the slide up and down thereon, a downwardly facing cup secured to the lower portion of said slide, a U shapedc'lip having itscentra'l portion secured to said cup at one side and with its arms reaching towards the other side of the device, together with a removable hopper and feed device comprising a vertical tubular chamber of proper size to receive the crown caps the lower portion thereof being inturned towards the sealing cup, a bottom plate on the bottom end of said inturned portion, a slide plate slid ably mounted above said bottom plate, the lower portion of the hopper adjacent to the sealing cup being cut (way to establish a slot for the delivery of the crown caps, an upwardly projecting tine on the slide in position to engage the inner edge of a crown cap flange, spring means for restoring the slide to its initial position, and means for remova'bly connecting the hopper and feed device to the vertically movable slide first referred to, substantially as described.

5. A bottle capping machine comprising in combination a stand having at its upper end a vertical guide member, a slide work ing vertically thereon, means for moving said slide on said guide member, a down wardly facing cup connected to the lower portion of said slide, a clip on said cup for receiving and retaining crown caps under spring tension, together with a hopper and feed device comprising a vertical tubular chamber of proper size to receive the crown caps, the lower portion thereof being inturned towards the sealing cup, a cross piece ns -ra ses 'on the lower end o'f sai'd hopper, a feeding slide above said cross piece, the lower portion of the hopper adjacent to the sealing cup being cut" awa yto establish aslot for the deli-very of the crown caps, andmeans for removably connecting the hopper and said device to'the vertically removable slide first mentioned, substantially as described.

6. A bottle capping machi'ne comprising in combination a "stand having at its upper end averti'cal guide member, a slide working vertically on said guide member, means for moving said slide thereon, a downwardly facing cup secured to the-lower portion of said slide, a-U shapedshee't spring metal clip open on one side and having its lower portion grooved for receiving and retaining a crown cap in position 'benea'th said cu-punder spring'ten'sion with'the cap :fl'a nge engaging said groove, together with a hopper forsaid device comprising a vertical tubu-lar chamber of proper size 'tore'ceive the=crown caps, a transversely movable feeding slide in the lower portion thereof, the lower portion of the hopper adjacent to the sealing cup being cut away-to establish a slot for the delivery ofthe crowncaps into'the spring clip aforesaid, and means for connecting the hopper and feed device with the vertically movable slide first mentioned whereby said parts travel up and down in harmony, substantially as described. I I FRED K. MUELLER. 

